DA Intschert seeking information on child murder in Pennsylvania

District Attorney Cindy F. Intschert has asked state police to look into a possible connection between a child assault case in Jefferson County and a murder investigation in Beaver County, Pa.

Timothy Wasyl Kay, 25, Ambridge, Pa., northwest of Pittsburgh, is charged with homicide in the death of a 2-year-old boy, the son of Kays girlfriend, according to the Beaver County Times.

An anonymous caller with a Pennsylvania phone number told the Watertown Daily Times on Monday that Kay is the husband of Jessica L. Kay, who on Feb. 7, 2012, entered an Alford plea in Jefferson County Court to second-degree assault of a child. With such a plea, Mrs. Kay did not admit that she placed a hot iron on her 2-year-olds chest, causing second-degree burns, but she did not have to go to trial.

The caller wondered whether Mrs. Kay accepted the plea to protect her husband.

Mrs. Intschert declined to confirm that Jessica Kays husband is Timothy Kay, but acknowledged that she will reach out to authorities in Pennsylvania. Since state police handled the assault case here, that agency was asked to make the Pennsylvania inquiry, Mrs. Intschert confirmed.

A reporter with the Beaver County Times found a record of a Timothy Kay being the husband of a Jessica Kay, but late Monday had not confirmed they are the same couple.

After she was released Aug. 3 from a four-month term in the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building, Mrs. Kay was granted a transfer of her five-year sentence of probation to a Pennsylvania probation department, the Jefferson County Probation Department confirmed Tuesday.

The injury for which she was convicted occurred July 8, 2011, at her residence on Fort Drum, 8236A S. Lewis Ave. Court documents filed with her arrest about four days later quoted her as saying that she acted in frustration against her 2-year-old son because he was fighting with his 3-year-old brother. She had three children at the time.

In the Pennsylvania case, 2-year-old Dominic Neumeyer died Oct. 29, according to the Beaver County Times. Timothy Kay told authorities that the child was injured when he jumped off a dresser. Ambridge police observed that no dust was disturbed on the dresser, and alleged with Kays arrest Thursday that he was responsible for the boys abusive head trauma, the newspaper reported.

Explaining her refusal to confirm a link between the suspect in Pennsylvania and Jessica Kay, Mrs. Intschert said, Im proceeding cautiously. She said she is not aware that the husband was a matter of public record in the 2011 investigation, so, for the time being, Im not prepared to confirm anything from a closed case.

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